There were four species of Scoter available to see in Kerry today, the male White-winged Scoter seen again off Kilcummin, with three Velvet Scoters there too, along with another five at Inch beach. In addition, a male and female Surf Scoter were also close inshore at Inch beach this morning. Numbers of Common Scoter in Kerry are impressive this winter after a couple of lean winters, with perhaps 1500 now in Brandon Bay, and another 2000 off Inch, unfortunately often very far off Inch. As well as those two main flocks, there are higher than usual numbers accumulating in the Sandy Bay / Rough Point area this winter, with about 300 present today.
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Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery).
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| Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). |
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| Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). |
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| Male and female Surf Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). |
Throughout the eastern end of Dingle Bay today there were thousands of birds, actively feeding on some unseen fish, while a hundred or more Common Dolphins, 3 or more Minke Whales and 30 or so Bottlenose Dolphins (and several trawlers) ploughed through the 'bait balls'. Bird totals included 2 Surf Scoter (adult male and female), 5 Velvet Scoter (one adult male, 4 female/immature), along with 1500 Common Scoter, 1 Little Auk, some 3000+ Razorbills and 500 Guillemots. Another extraordinary count was of a minimum of 450 Red-throated Divers, surely one of the largest counts ever made in Ireland? By contrast, there was 'only' 60 Great Northern Divers and strangely, not even a sniff of a Black-throated Diver. They really are rare in Kerry. Some 3000 gulls were chasing the fish right across the bay, mostly Herring and Common Gulls, but nothing rare could be found in amongst those, not even a Mediterranean Gull. Kittiwakes were perhaps noticeable by their absence. 1 Slavonian Grebe and 1 Great Crested Grebe (pretty rare in this part of Kerry) were also off the main beach at Inch.
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Red-throated Divers, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). There were small groups of Red-throated Diver scattered throughout the Bay, and for many kilometres offshore and, every now and then, groups would arrive and plunge straight into a melee of gulls, auks and Gannets, chasing whatever fish shoals were gathering in the bay. Unusual behaviour.
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Mixed flock, chasing 'bait balls', Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). Numerous gulls, Gannet, auks, shags and Cormorants were all piling in as soon as a 'bait ball' appeared, though these often only lasted a couple of minutes. Birds would then disperse, and the process would be repeated nearby.
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